A photosensitive semiconductor component in the form of a solar cell is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,093, for example. The solar cell described therein includes a doped semiconductor substrate, a layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) applied thereto, and also electrical contacts applied on the rear side of the substrate and on the surface of the ITO layer. The ITO layer interacts with the substrate in such a way that, in a manner similar to that in the case of a pn junction, the electrical charge carriers released in the substrate by absorption of electromagnetic radiation are separated for generating an electric current.
A further solar cell is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,123. This solar cell is based on a p-doped silicon substrate, into which is implanted an n-type dopant for producing a buried pn junction. In order to reduce the reflection at the surface of the silicon substrate, the surface of the silicon substrate is structured. What is achieved in this way is that a higher proportion of light can penetrate into the silicon substrate.
The document WO 02/13279 A2, also published as U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,296, describes structuring the surface of a solar cell by means of an etching method in order to reduce the reflection at the surface.
The document M. Stubenrauch, et al., “Black Silicon—New Functionalities in Microsystems”, J. Micromech. Microeng. 16 (2006), pp. 82-86, discloses a plasma etching method for producing needle-like structures in silicon layers. Furthermore, the document H. Jansen, et al., “The black silicon method: a universal method for determining the parameter setting of a fluorine-based reactive ion etcher in deep silicon trench etching with profile control” J. Micromech. Microeng. 5 (1995), pp. 115-120, also describes a method for producing needle-like structures in silicon.